Attachment for holding coverings for furniture.



M. DOUGLAS. ATTAGHMENT FOR HOLDING GOVERINGS FOR FURNITURE.

APPLICATION FILED N0\T.1B,1908

Patented 0013.5

UNITED STATE FATENT @FFTQE.

MARIE DOUGLAS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ATTACHMENT FOR HOLDING COVERINGS FOR FURNITURE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NLiRIE DOUGLAS, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Attachmentsfor Holding Coverings for Furniture, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an attachment adapted to be applied to anarticle of furniture such as a bedstead, dining table, ironing table orthe like, to clamp and hold the edge of a cloth covering againstdisplacement or dislodgment under the strain to which it is subjected inordinary use.

The use of my invention in an attachment for a bedstead, to hold theedges ofthe bedclothes and prevent them from being pulled out by theoccupant of the bed, is sufiiciently characteristic of my invention andI will therefore address my description to an embodiment of my inventionin such an attachment. I desire to have it understood how ever that myinvention is not limited to such specific use, but that its use inconnection with any article of furniture upon which a removable coveringis employed which it is desired to hold or clamp in position, is withinthe scope of my invention and is contemplated by the claims. Thus, it isequally adapted for an attachment to a dining table to hold the silencecloth or other covering, or to an ironing table to hold the coveringthereof, as for an attachment to a bedstead to hold the bed coverings.In short, it is applicable to any article of furniture upon which it isdesired to clamp and hold a covering. It will also be understood thatwhile I have illustrated my improvement as applied to but one end orside of an article of furniture, it can as well be applied to more thanone side, and should be so applied wherever it is desired to stretch thecloth smoothly over the article of furniture and secure it at two ormore edges.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodimentof my invention, as applied to a bedstead,-Figure 1 is a plan View ofthe attachment applied to a metallic bedstead of ordinary construction,a fragmentary view of the bedstead being shown; Fig. 2 is an end view ofthe attachment applied to the bedstead as shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 isa detail view in vertical section through lines 33 of Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 18, 1908.

Patented Oct. 5, IQOQ. Serial No. 463,288.

The bed frame comprises the legs or upright members A, end rail B andside rails C.

D represents in dotted lines the position of a mattress.

Mounted on each of the upright members A, is a bracket 1, made with anupwardly extending projection 2, and provided with a pair of spring armsor hands 3 adapted to embrace the upright A and to be clamped thereon bymeans of a bolt and nut 4: passing through lugs 5 upturned from the endsof arms 3. The arms 3 may be formed from a single piece or ring of flatresilient metal, and the bracket member proper, 1, be secured thereto byrivets 6 as shown in Fig. 3.

The attachment for holding the coverings comprises a bar 7 provided ateach end with a bracket 8. The bracket 8 is made with a slot 9corresponding with the projection 2 of the bracket 1, mounted on theframe, thus affording a rigid but readily separablejoint between thebracket on the bed frame and the bracket on the bar 7. The bracket 8 isalso provided with an inwardly facing pocket or recess 10 to receive theend of a second bar 11. A support or ledge 12 is provided at the bottomof the pocket 10 to prevent the bar 11 from dropping therethrough. Thebar 11 is made separate from the bar 7 and its brackets, and the pockets10 are sufficiently large to admit of the movement of bar 11 toward andfrom the bar 7 The bed clothing or other covering 13 is clamped betweenbar 7 and bar 11, the latter being pressed toward the former by a springcontained within the pocket or recess 10. Any suitable form of springmay be used for this purpose but I believe the best form to be a leafspring 14 secured in the upper part of the recess 10 and extendingdownwardly and away from the wall to which it is attached, thusfurnishing an inclined or cam-like surface which admits of the readyinsertion of the ends of bar 11 within the recess, at the same timepressing the bar 11 toward the bar 7 to clamp the covering placedtherebetween. The leaf spring 1 1 may be reinforced if desired by a coilspring 15 placed behind it. Conceivably a rigid cam-like member could beused in place of the yielding camlike member 14, for clamping the bar 11against bar 7, the natural yielding and elasticity of the covering 13serving to exert the necessary pressure to hold the coverings in placeafter the bar 11 is pressed by the cams toward bar 7 I prefer the springhowever since it admits of greater variation in the thickness of thecoverings which are to be clamped, and maintains a substantially unlformclamping pressure no matter what the thickness of the material to beheld.

It will be understood that bracket-s 1 may be applied to the legs of atable instead of the legs of a bed; that the brackets 1 may bepermanently fixed to the frame of the article of furniture instead ofremovably fixed thereto; and that the form of the structure abovedescribed may be otherwise departed from without departing from thespirit of my invention.

The attachment above described being readily separable from the articleof furniture with which it is used, may be taken out of its positionshown in the drawings and clamped upon the coverings where mostconvenient and thereafter mounted on the brackets 1 with the coveringsheld between the bars.

I claim: 7

1. An attachment for an article of furniture, comprising a bar having abracket at each end adapted to support the attachment upon the articleof furniture, said brackets provided each with a pocket or recess to receive and hold the ends of a relatively movable clamping bar, aidrelatively movable clamping bar having its ends within said pockets, andmeans within said pockets or recesses to press said relatively movablebar toward the first named bar to clamp and hold a covering placedtherebetween.

2. An attachment for an article of furniture, comprising a bar having abracket at each end adapted to support the attachment upon the articleof furniture, said brac ets provided each with an inwardly facing pocketor recess to receive and hold the ends of a relatively movable clampingbar, said relatively movable clamping bar having its inner ends withinsaid pockets, and means within said pockets or recesses to press saidrelatively movable bar toward the first named bar to clamp and hold acovering placed therebetween.

3. An attachment for an article of furniture, comprising a bar having abracket ateach end adapted to support the attachment upon the article offurniture, said brackets provided each with an inwardly facing pocket orrecess to receive the ends of a relatively movable clamping bar, a ledgewithin each of said pockets to prevent said relatively movable bar fromfalling through said pockets, said relatively movable clamping bar, andmeans Within said pockets to press said relatively movable bar towardsaid first named bar to clamp and hold a covering placed therebetween 4.An attachment for an article of furniture, comprising a bar having abracket at each end adapted to support the attachment upon the articleof furniture, said brackets provided each with a pocket or recess to receive and hold the ends of a relatively movable clamping bar, saidrelatively movable clamping bar having its ends within said pockets, andmeans within said pockets or recesses yieldingly to press saidrelatively movable bar toward the first named bar to clamp and hold acovering placed therebe-- tween.

5. An attachment for an article of furniture, comprising a bar having abracket at each end adapted to support the attachment upon the articleof furniture, said brackets provided each with a pocket or recess toreceive and hold the ends of a relatively clamping bar, said relativelymovable clamping bar having its ends Within said pockets, and meanswithin said pockets or recesses to press said relatively movable bartoward the first named bar to clamp and hold a covering placedtherebetween, said means comprising a leaf spring having a cam-likeouter surface.

6. In combination with a pair of upright members of the framework of anarticle of furniture, a bracket embracing and removably secured to eachof said upright members, and a separable attachment comprising a barhaving a bracket at each end adapted to engage saidbrackets upon theupright members, and provided each with a pocket or recess, a relativelymovable clamping bar the ends of which are held within said pockets, andmeans to press said relatively movable bar toward said first named barto clamp and hold a covering placed therebetween.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this sixteenth day of November 1908.

MARIE DOUGLAS. lVitnesses ROBERT CUSIIMAN, CHARLES I). ooonERRY.

